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What Does Visual Acuity Mean?

Hearing you have 20/20 vision from your eye care specialist is good news. Some professions even require having this visual acuity measurement. But, what does it actually mean? Insight Vision Center Optometry, your trusted provider of ortho-k and other quality eye care, explains what this figure indicates.

What Is Visual Acuity?

Visual acuity is usually one of the first things we check during a comprehensive eye exam. It generally describes how sharp your vision is. To measure, we’ll ask you to stand roughly 20 feet from the Snellen chart. As you cover one of your eyes, we’ll instruct you to identify some of the letters at which we’ll point. We’ll have you do the same steps for the other eye.

Your eye doctors explain that there’s an equivalent fraction for each line on the Snellen chart, such as 20/20. The top number stands for how far away you were from the chart. Meanwhile, the bottom figure represents the viewing point at which a person with normal visual acuity can read the same letter clearly without any problems.

A 20/10 reading, for example, means you can see a figure clearly at 20 feet what others with normal eyesight can see if they are standing 10 feet from it. On the other hand, having a visual acuity result of 20/200 means you’re legally blind. This means that to see an object that an individual with standard vision can view easily at 200 feet, you need to be 20 feet away from it.

Why Is It Important?

A visual acuity test is one of the standard procedures during a comprehensive eye exam. It’s one of the first steps we perform to detect signs of vision problems, such as refractive errors. A common form you may have heard of is hyperopia. More popularly known as farsightedness, this is characterized by having a sharp far-range vision while your close-range viewing ease is compromised.

To illustrate, an individual with 20/20 visual acuity may be able to view the displayed items on a window at a certain distance. You, however, may need to take a few steps back from that point in order to see the objects clearly and appreciate their details. We may recommend prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses or orthokeratology to help improve your vision.

For more information about your eyesight, call us at (714) 988-6179, or complete our form. We serve Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and nearby California areas.